Sunday, August 19, 2012

One power crisis after another

Nadia Fazlulhaq reports
Electricity consumers islandwide hit by 3-hour cuts, the breakdown of a key supply source , and an Electricity Board strike.

The 300-megawatt (MW) Norochcholai Power Station in Puttalam broke down last week for technical reasons, making this the sixth time the power plant has stalled since the coal power plant started operating last year.

This time the problem was saline deposits on the Norochcholai-Veyangoda transmission line, according to the Ministry of Power and Energy.

Waste of time and bus fare for consumers wanting to pay light bills. Photo: Indika Handuwela

The breakdown forced the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to enforce power cuts of three-and-a-quarter hours per day. The power cuts will continue till August 27. According to the board, electricity usage peaks between 7 pm and 8 pm.

At present, the country’s electricity consumption is around 2000 mw. Total electricity generation capacity is 3300 mw, with a surplus of 1300 mw. The CEB-owned hydropower plants generate 1300 mw, while private sector hydropower plants contribute 200 mw.

“At present, hydropower accounts for only 300 mw of power, with zero input from the private sector,” energy expert Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya explained to the Sunday Times. “We have used up what surplus we had. To meet the 7 pm to 8 pm demand, we get 1700 mw from non-hydro sources – fuel and coal, and 300 mw from hydro.”

If the 7 pm power cut is to end, the Electricity Board will have to conserve hydropower and use non-hydro power generation, such as from fuel and coal.

“With the coal power plant non-functioning, we are losing 300 mw, and the Electricity Board is compelled to turn to thermal power, which is costly,” Dr. Siyambalapitiya said, adding that it may take more than three weeks to fix the breakdown. A few technical problems are to be expected in the first six to nine months of the Norochcholai power plant being in operation, he said.
“Power plants become fully operational in the second year, and can be expected to function stably for the next 13 years. A coal power plant can operate 330 days a year, with 35 days for plant maintenance,” Dr. Siyambalapitiya said. “This plant is experiencing serious technical problems. This is an unexpected breakdown.”

Cooking by kuppi laampu. Photo Mangala Weerasekara

The coal power plant is the most cost-effective of the power generators, and should be kept running. �“It is tragedy to stall the least expensive plant for so many days. The problem should be thoroughly investigated and the Government should demand an explanation from the Chinese Government, which nominated the contractor to build the plant,” he said.

Monsoon failure and drought conditions have brought down reservoir storage capacity to 18.9 per cent.

Electricity Board vice-chairman Anura Wijeyapala told the Sunday Times that a team of seven engineers from China arrived in the country on Friday to examine the Norochcholai coal power plant. “Turbine malfunction is a cause and needs immediate repair. But we have to give time for the machinery to cool down to begin repairs. It will take at least two weeks to get it fixed,” he said.

According to Mr. Wijeyapala, the Chinese contractor, the Chinese Machinery and Engineering Co-operation (CMEC), has apologised for the inconvenience caused to the country. The company’s vice-president is in the country to oversee the repairs. “Once the Norochcholai plant starts functioning, the power cuts won’t be necessary,” Mr. Wijeyapala said.
The Norochcholai Power Station, also known as the Lak Vijaya Power Station, was built by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) with a US$ 450 million loan from China’s EXIM Bank.

This year, the Government had to pay out Rs.168 million to get the plant operating again after a breakdown in January.
At this week’s Cabinet briefing, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Norochcholai Power Station was undergoing a trial period, and therefore “no financial losses were incurred.”

CEB strike

Electricity Board trade union action was called off on Thursday, but the public continued to be inconvenienced, with no CEB staff available to attend to their power problems or process their bill payments.

Members of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Trade Union Alliance, a collective of some 30 unions, launched a strike on August 10. They had 12 demands, the main ones being a total salary increment for non-executive staff, and the settlement of salary anomalies for non-executive staff. The board issued a circular cancelling leave for essential staff.

“Salary increments are given once in three years, and this year it should be 45 per cent, 15 per for each year,” CEB Joint Trade Union Alliance convener Ranjan Jayalal told the Sunday Times. “All the executives were given the 45 per cent, while the non-executives were given only 25 per cent. We are demanding the balance 20 per cent.”

A funeral wreath was placed in front of Mr. Jayalal’s house after the strike was launched.The strike came to a head when the Electricity Board insisted that employees on strike reported to work by 12 noon on Friday (August 17). The Board said the Army would provide security for those who reported to work.

In a statement, the Ministry said strikers had used bicycle chains and sharp-edged objects to damage transformers in Ampara and other areas. Members of the public have been asked to report incidents of damage to CEB property to the nearest Police station or to call the Police hotline 119.

The unions denied they had caused damage to CEB property, saying the transformers and power lines in Ampara were damaged by strong winds.Trade union employees on strike returned to work after discussions with the Commissioner General of Labour Pearl Weerasinghe and CEB officials.

A committee has been appointed to look into the union leaders’ five demands. CEB vice-chairman Anura Wijeyapala promised that salary anomalies would be sorted out by the first week of November.

“During the strike, the CEB asked retired CEB employees and final-year university engineering students who have interned with the Board to act for those on strike,” he said.

I finally Went To Chennai: Role Of India Is crucial

By Vickramabahu Karunaratne -August 18, 2012

Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne

I finally went to Chennai and participated in Tamil Elam Supporters Organization (TESO) conference and the public meeting. The whole thing was effective in raising the plight of the Elam Tamils. Even for a Marxist revolutionary there was a space to intervene with out conceding any principle. Though near 90 years of age, DMK leader Karunanidi, is very alert and active. From a wheelchair he was guiding the whole operation; keenly following the entire discussion. His son Stalin led the organizing of the event. He reminded me of late Vijaya, handsome and charming. Obviously it was a bourgeoisie event.

I felt they urgently needed to pacify the masses looking towards them. There is dissatisfaction about the role the DMK played during the war that was supported by Sonia Gandhi. They had to come out and condemn the genocidal attack on the Tamil people and show a path to go forward. They were determined to mobilize masses and voice the misery of the Lankan Tamil people. This opened the door for NSSP to participate. The government and Jayalalitha tried every trick to stop the mobilization of the people. They tried to limit it to a hotel room discussion, away from the masses. Police orders, court orders and security warnings were given one after the other. Stalin led the battle for freedom of expression and finally both the conference in the morning and the rally in the afternoon were successful.
As expected the draft resolutions document was a liberal appeal to the Indian leaders and to the UN. But it sharply condemned the war, the continuation of military rule and the oppression. Also it condemned plunder of the Tamil homeland under the pretext of development. Actual recommendations were similar to that of theLLRC. I pointed out that both the Indian leaders and global powers were foremost supporters of the war ofMahinda and still supporting him, in the present development programme. In that scenario we need to go beyond the formality of appealing to the imperialist masters. We must go to the masses and appeal to the oppressed in the world to incorporate the demands of the Elam Tamils among their items of struggle. Also, I explained that we are already giving a battle to the repressive Mahinda regime as the protest of the opposition, the Vipakshaye Virodaya. In the VV all are agreed to campaigning for the implementation of the LLRC recommendations and also to press the government, to call a parliamentary select committee, to discus the Acton Plan for implementing these recommendations.

They said they are not against that and in fact the evening event is a beginning of mass activation. Further more I explained that Sinhalisation is only a populist pretext for grabbing the resources and land of the Tamil people, to sell these to alien economic powers, basically multinational corporations. Poor peasants and fishers of the Sinhala community have not gained any thing from this war. On the contrary they also lost their kith and kin, and are now enslaved by the new agreements with the international money lenders.
The evening event was a massive mass mobilization. It was a resounding defeat for those who wanted it to be a flop. Some said it was seventy thousand; almost all agreed it was more than 30,000. From 4 pm until 9pm they were there, listening and cheering. I was amazed that so many understood speeches made in English. They listened silently to my speech. I explained the miserable situation in the country. Now, not only in the north but also in the south people are fed up with Mahinda regime. Struggles of workers, peasants, fishers and students are continuing. Government has reacted by launching repression which killed workers and fishers. The agitations of the VV, protest of the opposition, have been successful. Our campaigns for the implementation of the LLRC RECOMMENDATIONS have a serious effect on both the government and the civil society. In this scenario the government leaders rest on their foreign masters. Role of India is crucial. If TESO can mobilize in this manner, not only in Tamil Nadu but also in other parts of India as well as internationally, that could change the political parameters in Lankan society.

Rights Issues Mar Sri Lanka-EU Trade

By Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Aug 19 2012 (IPS) - Sri Lanka is in for some hard bargaining when it negotiates a new aid pact in 2013 with the European Union (EU), which withdrew a key trade concession two years ago over this country’s human rights record.

Bernard Savage, head of the EU delegation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, says political differences do not affect trade. “There are no specific irritants (at the moment) and I would like to stress that in the normal run of affairs political differences do not affect trade.”

Savage told IPS in an interview that the issue of withdrawal of EU trade concessions was a specific case. “But, if you look at the broad spectrum of trade relations … that was not affected by short-term considerations.”

However, well-known human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna believes that trade and aid are invariably linked to human rights and corruption – two sectors where Sri Lanka has been asked to show tangible progress.

“What is promised on paper (by the government) is exactly the opposite of what is implemented on the ground,” the lawyer, a board member of Transparency International, told IPS.

The EU is among Sri Lanka’s largest providers of development assistance and has allocated an overall sum exceeding Sri Lankan rupees 478 million dollars for the 2007-2013 period for projects dealing with water and sanitation, housing, income generation, infrastructure, schools, health facilities, food security and others.

“The level of assistance for the next programme – 2013 to 2020 – will be more or less the same. It won’t decrease,” Savage said.

Sri Lanka had won generous tax concessions under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) for the July 2005 – August 2010, but this facility was withdrawn over unaddressed human rights concerns.

EU investigations had found ”shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three United Nations human rights conventions – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

However, it was widely understood that the concessions were withdrawn owing to Sri Lanka’s failure to address alleged war crimes during the last stages of the country’s ethnic conflict.

The impact of lost EU concessions is now being felt with garments exports to Europe dropping by 15-20 percent in the five months up to May, said Rohan Abeykoon, chairman of the Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association.

Garments, Sri Lanka’s biggest export item, account for more than 50 percent of exports to Europe.

“It’s not the job losses that we are worried about because there is demand for labour, but lost contracts are affecting small and medium businesses,” Abeykoon said. “Local companies are losing out while those with multinational connections will shift production elsewhere.”

Abeykoom told IPS that he has urged the government to reapply for the facility, though there is no sign of that happening yet. “With regard to GSP + we have had no request from the government for a new facility,” Savage confirmed.

Trade unions are also backing the call for a revival of the concessions. Palitha Athukorala, president of the Progress Union of Sri Lankan Apparel Workers, said the government seems unconcerned and has made no attempt to apply for GSP +.

“They (government) should ask for it. We are badly affected as small factories are closing and workers are losing jobs,” Athukorala told IPS.

Padmini Weerasuriya, coordinator of the Women’s Centre, a non-government organisation active in the country’s free trade zones, says there are no job losses owing to the loss of GSP + concessions, though this may change.

“Our members (workers) have reported a drop in orders which then affects other incentives outside the monthly wage,” she said. Unions have already been campaigning for decent living wages.

On the political front, Sri Lanka this month did a major about-turn to invite the U.N. Human Rights Council to visit the country to review the human rights situation.

Earlier, Sri Lanka had even refused entry to a EU team examining Sri Lanka’s application for a renewal of GSP+ benefits.

The government has prepared an action plan on human rights and sent it to Geneva, five months after the U.N. passed a United States-backed resolution urging Sri Lanka to address alleged human rights abuses.

The March U.N. motion had called on Colombo to address violations of international humanitarian law; implement the recommendations of a local commission that probed the conflict; and encourage the U.N. Human Rights office to offer Sri Lanka advice and assistance and the government to accept such advice.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has repeatedly denied claims of large-scale civilian casualties during the last stages of the battle against Tamil separatist rebels that ended in May 2009.

Strained relations with the West have forced the government to rely on allies in the neighbourhood like China, Iran, Libya and India for war-related and development aid.

Constant international pressure and the March U.N. resolution – which was backed by India, a long-time Sri Lanka supporter – has forced Sri Lanka to make conciliatory gestures to the West.

The respected Sunday Times newspaper said on Aug. 5 that the government’s decision to implement the full U.N. resolution and allow a U.N. team to visit the country would pave the way for a long-standing visit by U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, considered a vocal critic.

Weliamuna said issues in which the international community is concerned – human rights, declining rule of law, growing impunity and corruption – are relevant. “The government knows it cannot continue in this manner and is trying to convince the world that it has changed,” he said.

Abeykoon says the devaluation of the US dollar in May, which pushed the rupee up to 130 per dollar, against 110 in February, has helped the garment industry. “If not, our exports (to the EU) would have worsened.”

For Savage, the GSP + is a “closed chapter”, using a phrase borrowed from Sri Lanka’s external affairs minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris. “The fact is GSP+ was withdrawn and Sri Lanka has not reapplied. We need to move on,” Savage said.

War In Peace

Ananda Commaraswamy Mawatha is now ‘Nelum Pokuna Mawatha’

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The essence of our life consists, after all, of the political functioning of the society in which we find ourselves. – Foucault.
The word ‘peace’ can connote the presence of a good degree of justice and harmony, or the absence of (overt, armed and violent) conflict. The observation in his treatise On War by Carl von Clausewitz (1780 – 1831) – “war is the continuation of politics by other means” – is well-known. (See also ‘The Art of War’ by Sun-tzu, BCE 380 – 316, and ‘The Arthashastra’ by Kautilya.) Among Michael Foucault’s chief concerns is the question of power: its forms and manifestations; its workings and effect. Power is not to be associated only with force, punishment and repression by the state. It functions also at the sub-state level; is regulatory and ‘productive’, for example, of discourse. Foucault, inverting Clausewitz, says that politics is the continuation of war by other means. Political power puts an end to war, but not in order to suspend the effects of power or to neutralize the disequilibrium revealed by the last battle of the war (Foucault, Society Must Be Defended). On the contrary, the state can use military victory to re-inscribe that relationship of force in institutions, economic inequalities, language, and even on the bodies of individuals (op. cit.). From the 1910s to the early 1970s, aboriginal children of mixed race were placed in white foster-homes or settlement camps in a policy of forced assimilation that sought to “speed the disappearance of aboriginal culture” (Michael Sandel, Justice, 2010).

By Aanya Wipulasena and Harish Murali

Three persons belonging to the same family were found dead in a house at Wellawatte yesterday, Police said.
Police suspect they may have been killed.

The victims were identified as father, Kumarasamy (58), mother, Poovathy (56) and daughter Amita Priya (25) hailing from Kotagala. The family had come to Colombo to stay with their son Prashan Kumaswamy, a medical representative, at his house in Wellawatta.

Police and relatives at the scene of the crime. Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte

However he has been missing since the bodies were discovered, Police said.The bodies were found by Nicholas Jebamalik, a relative of the family. He had wanted to discuss a business matter and tried calling Prashan but as he did not answer the phone he had gone over to his house yesterday afternoon.

When he reached the place he found the doors locked and a foul smell emanating from within the house. He had immediately contacted the Police who arrived and broke into the house.

Police believe the victims may have died a couple of days ago as the bodies were found in a decomposed condition.

Wellawatte Police OIC Chief Inspector Samarakoon said it is suspected some chemical was used to kill the victims.

Prashan who works as a medical representative in Colombo is said to have visited his family in Kotagala on Sunday and brought his family to his rented house where the bodies were found.

Prashan is said to be living in that locality for over a year, he added.The father was working as a driver and his wife looked after the house while his daughter was studying.Police are investigating further and searching for the son who is missing.

Sycophancy, Diplomacy And Flattery

By Gamini Weerakoon -August 19, 2012

Gamini Weerakoon

The often used quote: An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country, has been given cynical and ambiguous interpretations by cynics such as an ambassador is one who is expected to lie in speech for his country or lie in bed for pleasure. Ambassadors will obviously deny both insinuations. A good ambassador knows well that lies are soon found out and will do damage to his country’s credibility as well as himself. In present times with newspersons equipped with cameras and sound recorders of all sorts under beds, on the streets, in jungles or other exotic places, to lie or lie in bed is absolutely counterproductive.

Godage as Ambassador

The question of lying or not telling the truth does not arise in the case of Nanda Godage who was recalled from his post of High Commissioner in Malaysia last week because he had asked at a conference of Sri Lankan ambassadors (closed to the media) what his responses should be to queries made by Tamil lobbyists in Kuala Lumpur.
Directions given on the stand taken by the Sri Lanka government on questions raised by the LTTE lobbyists and members of the Tamil diaspora in Western and even oriental capitals would have been beneficial to all Sri Lankan ambassadors. But Godage’s queries had obviously grated the powers that be. In a letter to Prof. G. L. Peiris, he says: ‘I can’t believe that you of all people had me recalled’. He may have caused the professorial ire by asking embarrassing questions from his immediate boss in the audience of diplomats, but the Prof. with a ‘monitor’ at his heels wherever he goes and considering whom the ‘monitor’ is expected to report to, we may be pardoned for saying that the ultimate decision made for recall may not be that of the professor but the almighty ‘Creator and Destroyer’, the Brahma, in contemporary Sri Lankan politics.
Godage is the most experienced diplomat in the Foreign Service right now. Having served in embassies like Tokyo, Washington, New Delhi and finally Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Brussels, he knew his diplomatic lingo and table manners. He ended his career as the Acting Foreign Secretary. But even Homer nods.

Politics and diplomacy Read More

Lanka walking tightrope between India and China

By Our Political Editor

= India's high commissioner emphasises protest over sale of

land to Chinese aircraft company Malwatte
Mahanayake gives stinging message to Govt. - Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru on the streets

Ebullient and charming Ashok Kantha, India’s High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, the accomplished diplomat that he is, found it difficult to hide his feelings.

That he chose to say it at a formal official ceremony that marked the 65th anniversary of India’s independence was all the more important. The Indian community – diplomats and their families, Indian security forces personnel assigned to their diplomatic mission, their citizens in Sri Lanka and their own media representatives – were there to hear the nuanced message. It came after Kantha read out the Indian President’s message as well as his own to mark the formal event. He said there were issues with the government of Sri Lanka. They were trying to resolve them since both were friendly neighbours.

Some previous envoys too have delivered messages, some outrageously strong and others forcefully eloquent. However, the fact that Kantha chose his country’s Independence Day ceremonies at India House to engage in subtle diplomacy was unprecedented and significant. This is notwithstanding efforts by Indian media representatives to ignore the issue. The High Commission’s official spokesperson, Birendar Singh Yadav, kept stonewalling efforts by the Sunday Times to obtain an official text of the speech. Unlike most of his friendly, media savvy and co-operative predecessors, Yadav said on four different occasions that “I will send it” but, the speech with either what Kantha said or not, never arrived. He may have been under orders. Yet, the message delivered by Kantha was received loud and clear by the UPFA government leaders. It sent ripples at the highest levels and prompted a serious and analytical discussion.

Behind the veneer of all the good things said, Indo-Sri Lanka relations have hit a new low. Like the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back, the cause for the latest episode was revealed exclusively in last week’s front-page lead story of the Sunday Times. It said that India had lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka over the allocation of a prime Colombo property to a Chinese company though it was earmarked for India. The report said: “The protests were delivered both in New Delhi and Colombo, an External Affairs Ministry source said yesterday. He was speaking on grounds of anonymity since EAM officials are not allowed to talk to the media.”

Through an inadvertent error, the report in our print edition said that the 287 perch property belonged to Whittal Boustead and Company. It is in fact, the property of Shaw Wallace and Hedges Limited, one of the oldest firms in Sri Lanka. Now Shaw Wallace & Hedges PLC, an investment holding company, engages in the property development activities. It develops, manages, and maintains condominiums, commercial buildings, hotels, entertainment complexes, and recreational facilities. The company was founded in 1852. based in Colombo is therefore 162 years old. Shaw Wallace & Hedges PLC is a subsidiary of Lee Hedges and Company Ltd.

Gunaratnam Abandons Devolution: Front Line Socialists Or Sinhala Nationalists?

By Kumar David -August 18, 2012

Prof. Kumar David

Despite some grumbling from comrades I kept up hope that the JVPbreakaway faction, now the Front Line Socialist Party (FLSP), would overcome the two birth defects of the JVP – infantile adventurism and narrowSinhala nationalism. Both have been widely written about and that relieves me of responsibility of producing a summary here. I intend to write today from within the FLSP’s own avowed standpoint, a Marxist paradigm, but I will not assume the reader is familiar with this background. Many people outside the cognoscenti are not familiar with the Marxist position on these issues to judge from the asinine comments that proliferate about Marx, Lenin, the national question (NQ), ultra-leftism and Marx’s crisis or catastrophe theory. Nevertheless rising curiosity in this nexus of persons and issues is recognition of its central relevance to a collapsing world. It is the NQ that will be my focus today and neo-liberalism, socialism and the like, only to the extent that they intrude upon the discussion.

What motivates this piece is a Premakumar Gunaratnam interview by Peter Boyle of website Links, “an international journal of socialist renewal” based in Australia. Gunaratnam is one of two FLSP leaders abducted by the Lankan state and tortured in a secret location, but rescued from assassination by the Australian High Commissioner. He holds an Australian passport and was hurriedly deported. The interview includes an account of the abduction and leaves the reader in no doubt who is behind this and similar white van abominations now commonplace in Lanka.

Though hopeful of some progress I never had expectation that a JVP off-shoot could gain a thorough Marxist understanding of self-determination. It seems to be beyond the grasp of even leading Tamil politicians, so what can you expect from a JVP rump? The inanities that Sumanthiran serves up as “internal and external self-determination” in Groundviews are a reminder that being a TNA leader does not ensure you have a clue about fundamentals. Though not asking for expertise from Gunaratnam and the FLSP I certainly was not prepared for a big let down. He has dashed hope that the FLSP could escape from narrow minded Sinhala nationalism and grasp what underlay Lenin’s exploration of the national question. I know that the FLSP follows these discussions with interest and this one reason for writing this piece.

Not even devolution! Read More

Illusion-Mongering, For Geneva

Sunday, August 19, 2012

“The bamboozle has captured us”. - Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World)

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

The Rajapaksa administration’s tryst with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is just two months away. India, Spain and Benin are assigned to review the Lankan case; indubitably, Delhi’s will be the decisive voice.
The UPR report will be submitted to the next UNHRC session. That session will also review the progress made by the Rajapaksa administration in implementing its own LLRC Report, since the one year grace-period accorded to Colombo under the UNHRC Resolution will end in March 2013. An unfavourable UPR report is bound to colour the way the UNHRC will view and judge Colombo’s record.
A negative outcome in Geneva will not cause an international tsunami; NATO forces will not swoop on the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port; nor will the UN impose sanctions. But a second Geneva debacle can produce some serious international irritants. For instance, it will impact adversely on the 2013 Commonwealth Summit in Hambantota by strengthening boycott calls and igniting diplomatic efforts for a venue-change.
A über-successful Hambantota Summit is a Rajapaksa desideratum. President Rajapaksa’s unquenchable yearning to rub shoulders with Western leaders is no secret; and he must be imagining so many ‘The Queen and I’ moments – Lankan dinners and English teas, many a têta-à-tête and innumerable photo-opportunities. Mahinda Rajapaksa clearly intends to be the ‘Belle’ of the ‘Hambantota 2012’ Ball and he would not want anything to mar this gala he is giving himself, at an enormous cost to the nation.
So Colombo will go the extra mile to ensure a favourable UPR Report.
The question is what will that extra mile consist of? Will it consist of real improvements in the observance of human rights and the protection of democratic freedoms? Or will it consist of lies and deceptions?

Political Hallucinogens Read More »

I Went To A Fight And A Rugby Match Broke Out!

By Emil van der Poorten -August 19, 2012

Emil van der Poorten

Let me open with an apology for borrowing, with some modification, the very famous Rodney Dangerfield quote that reads, “I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out” as an epitomizing violence that might be appropriate in one athletic activity but which should be totally unacceptable in another.

One of the areas of Sri Lankan life with which I’ve had a degree of involvement since my return to the land of my birth approximately six years ago has beenclub rugby. The reason for this was simple: a friend under whose captaincy I played one of my first years of club rugby more than half a century ago persuaded me that I had something to offer my old club despite or because of my advancing years!

Navy personnel in civvies clambering upto the members and VIP enclosure while uniformed sailors look on and Navy goons looking for victims in the deserted upper levels of the main pavilion

So if you find anything offensive in this week’s column, you can blame my old buddy for bringing me back into a (much changed) club rugby culture.
At the inception, let me say that Sri Lanka will never achieve anything resembling competitive status on the international rugby stage simply due to the fact that, as a nation, we lack strength, girth and height, in comparison to the majority of those playing rugby elsewhere. Unfortunately, that has not prevented corruption of the sport to an extent that one might have expected in a sport such as cricket where the big bucks are available for embezzling, the usual gauge of ‘importance’ of anything in this country.